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We're searching for answers to some of childhood's diseases, conditions and issues. In addition to our four research focus areas (Aboriginal Health, Brain and Behaviour, Chronic and Severe Diseases, Early Environment), you can also discover more about specific research we're involved in and the technology we use.

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A study to investigate mental health and dietary patterns throughout childhood and into adolescence has received a $57,800 grant from the Australian Rotary Health Research Fund.

Led by Dr Wendy Oddy from Curtin University of Technology and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, the study is the largest and most comprehensive of its kind in the world.

Dr Oddy and her colleagues are looking at the link between childhood dietary patterns and mental health using data collected from the ground-breaking Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study.

More than 2000 mothers were recruited to the study when 18 weeks pregnant. Detailed information about their children's mental health - as well as physical growth and development - has been regularly collected over the past 16 years.

"There are not many studies of this magnitude around the world," says Dr Oddy.

"Our hypothesis is that dietary patterns such as longer duration of breastfeeding, higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids, regularly eating breakfast and reduced consumption of junk food and soft drinks are linked to better mental health in adolescence."

"We hope to find concrete evidence that simple changes to a child's diet can decrease the risk of them developing depression, anxiety and other mental health issues in their teens," said Dr Oddy.

Though the data is still being analysed, interesting trends are already emerging.

"For example, we're finding that the better quality breakfast a child has, that is the more wholegrain cereals and healthy foods such as milk, yoghurt and fruit, the better their mental health is," she said.

Dr Oddy will present the study's initial findings at the 5th International Congress on Developmental Origins of Health & Disease in Perth in November and at the 39th Conference of the Asia-Pacific Consortium for Public Health in Japan later in the year.

Australian Rotary Health Chairman Ian Oliver said the Fund was pleased to help a project that has the potential to make such a major impact in a largely un-researched area.

The Australian Rotary Health Research Fund is a multi-district project for Rotary in Australia, with over 1,175 Rotary clubs and 34,370 Rotarians supporting it. It is one of the largest independent medical research funds in the country. Over the past seven years the Fund has awarded more than $9.7 million in research grants and scholarships.